Wednesday, April 30, 2008

The Sleep-Proof Baby

We had a good run. For two nights in a row, Conrad only woke up once to feed. It was like a spa vacation. But last night he woke up every two hours, and between 7:30 this morning and 10:00 tonight, he took only one 20-minute nap. We looked it up on the Information Superhighway and found two possible explanations; he might be having a growth spurt, and he might also be having a cognitive growth spurt. In other words, he might be learning something new. Whatever it was Jean read said that often babies don't sleep when they are mastering a new skill, and then sleep through the night for the next couple of nights to recover. Based on his lack of sleep today I expect to wake up in the morning and find him riding a unicycle while reciting pi to 39 places in Urdu.

Hastings has decided he needs to help when Conrad is upset. He'll walk over with a concerned look on his face, and reach up and put a paw on Conrad if he can reach him, or rub his face against Conrad's head. It's very sweet, but sometimes, when Conrad has been inconsolable for half an hour for instance, it almost feels critical. "Oh great. Even the cat thinks we're doing something wrong."

Incredible, isn't it, how what would have once upon a time seemed like a skimpy night's rest of a mere 6 hours seems like, as you so eloquently put it, a 'spa vacation'. I still remember the first time that Charlotte slept 8 hours straight (~4 mos.?) and we woke up in a panic of confusion because she hadn't woken us up during the night, only to run into her room to find her happily snoozing.